Publisher's Description

▼▲

"An NFL player becomes an All-Pro by relentlessly focusing on the fundamentals and executing them with sheer determination. The same is true to become an All Pro Dad. This book not only highlights the fundamentals of fatherhood, but also gives dads a winning game plan to do their most important job well." Tony Dungy, Super Bowl winning coach and NBC Sports commentator

Thegame-winning playbook for every father

Dads, do you want to be a hero to your kids? A go-to coach for your teens? A husband your wife knows she can count on? All Pro Dad lays out a game plan built on seven essential fathering truths and ultra-practical insights for the questions every dad needs answered at some point. Like football, fatherhood is about winning. But its more than just scoring points. Its about winning the hearts and minds of your children and leaving a rich legacy of love for future generations.

Author Bio

▼▲

Mark Merrill is the founder and president of Family First, a widely respected national non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the family. Mark hosts the Family Minute with Mark Merrill , a national daily radio program. He has appeared on NBCs Today Show , numerous ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC network affiliates and network radio programs including NPR, CBS Radio, and the Canadian Broadcasting Network.His comments and writings have appeared in publications including USA Today , the Washington Times, and Sports Illustrated . As an energetic advocate for the family, Mark speaks at conferences and events hosted by major companies, NFL teams, as well as special engagements for dignitaries.Before founding Family First in 1991, Mark practiced law in Florida for seven years.Mark, his wife, Susan, and their five children live in Tampa, Florida.

Publisher's Weekly

▼▲

Founder of Family First and NFL-sponsored All Pro Dad Day stadium, Merrill employs the popularity of football and its terminology plus Christian principles to help men become dedicated, loving dads. This football fathering playbook outlines the responsibilities men need to acknowledge and assume while balancing the demands of work, marriage, and parenting. Accessible sports analogies bolstered by quotes and advice from noted players, Super Bowl coaches, CEOs of major corporations, and a Southern politician or twoall pro dads themselveswill resonate with readers. While the first chapter introduces the two basic principles of Love and Leadership, Merrill teaches his Fundamentals of Fatherhood in seven succeeding chapters, each focused on one of the Seven Ms that are essential for executing them: Make-Up: Who Am I?; Mind-set: Whats My Purpose?; Motive: Why Do I Do What I Do?; Method: How Can I Love Others?; Model: What Should I Model to Others?; Message: What Do I Need to Share?; and Master: Who or What Am I Living For? At the end of every chapter is a list of questions and activities, Huddle Up and Ask Your Kids, designed to take the coaching off the page and into family life. The books motivating message, as former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers notes, is not doing anything extraordinary but doing ordinary things better than anyone else. The author scores a major goal in this strategy for creating and maintaining a flourishing family dynamic. (June) 2012 Reed Business Information

I highly recommend All Pro Dad for any Dad that wants to be a better father, better husband and ultimately a better man. Gregory Slayton advises that fatherhood is really a lifelong journey and that we Dad's should expect good times right alongside rough times. But, in either case the outcome is often in our hands and in our leadership techniques.

The book is formatted as a `tool box' for dads, offering 10 tools for effective fatherhood. While all 10 tools have relevance, I found Tool #5 and Tool #9 to be the most helpful in my circumstance. Tool #5 is about the "All in Marriage"; specifically, that one of the most important gifts we can give our children is to love our wife and to be faithful to her. We really do set our children's expectations about what it means to be a good dad (and mom) and how those expectations will play out for them later in life. A Dad's loving relationship with our kids Mother has long term, even multi-generational, positive impact on our families.

Tool #9 reminded me that even though we may experience conflict and discouragement within our families, only dad's bring the emotional, spiritual and physical leadership every family needs. Our job is to maintain, and to instill, a never-give-up, optimistic attitude regardless of circumstance.

Slayton, a former Ambassador and Professor at Dartmouth College, points out that the research is clear, children whose fathers, grandfathers and even great-grandfathers were men of commitment, competence and character are more likely to succeed.All Pro Dad offers us a unique set of tools that makes our success as a family and our children's success much more likely.

I found this book to be written in the same style as a John Maxwell, in that the chapters are written in presentation form. There are a lot of references to other books, speakers and quotes from other speakers along with personal life examples. I think to some extent you could read this book and feel as if you should read the books quoted instead of this book, or you might just want to read them in addition. I do realize this is a book written to men, so perhaps that is a writing style men find more inviting to read.

Over all I found the principles in this book to be excellent, scriptural, and attainable. The goal of this book is to give a guide on how to lead by example, and I appreciated most that the marriage relationship was focused on early.

For men who feel like they are lacking in their relationship with their children, Mark Merrill's book, All Pro Dad, is the book to read.

Throughout the book, Merrill describes "the seven essentials to be a hero to your kids." His 7 M's are Makeup, Mind-set, Motive, Method, Model, Message, and Master. Each essential is connected to the two basic fundamentals: Love and Leadership.

Merrill humbly describes times he has failed in his journey as a father and husband. He doesn't claim to be a perfect dad, only a dad who learns from his mistakes. Merrill also includes advice from other notable men such as Tony Dungy, Truett Cathy, Dr. Ben Carson, and authors Stephen and Alex Kendrick.

As I read through the book, there were many things that I felt were just common sense. However, I had to remind myself that there are many men who were never shown how to be an All Pro Dad from their own fathers.

I recommend this book to any father wanting to strengthen his relationship with his children.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through the Booksneeze program for the purpose of an honest review.

Most fathers approach parenting with the approach of a general contractor. They sub out the academic training of their children to the school systems and its teachers. They sub out the character development to coaches and peers. The spiritual development is left up to Sunday School teachers and youth pastors. Author Mark Merrill wants dads to know they cannot give away any element of the parenting process. He wants dad to know not only what their responsibility is, but how they can succeed in raising their kids.

In All Pro Dad, the author communicates seven key elements that will help any father reach his goal of becoming a hero to his kids. Each one of the essential elements begins with the letter "M." Regarding the first elementÃ¢â¬âMakeupÃ¢â¬âthe author wants each dad to know who he isÃ¢â¬âgifts, abilities, passion, strengths, and he wants to equip him to understand how to help each of his children discover those same things about themselves. In Motive, he helps dads examine why they do what they do. Method examines a number of helpful ideas regarding how to be more effective in loving one's wife and children. Model discusses the fact that our children watch us and we need to be good models for them. Message examines what each dad wants to communicate and pass on to his children. The last element is Master: understand who it is that we are accountable to.

The book is filled with a number of very practical ideas and steps that each dad can adapt to his unique family situation. The author shares a number of personal stories that illustrate how he successfully implemented the elements in his own family, as well as what happened when he did not practice what he knew was right. In addition to his own ideas and thoughts, the author includes quotes and personal stories from a wide range of sports, entertainment, and business peopleÃ¢â¬âTony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, James "JB" Brown, Michael W. Smith, Truett Cathy, Jeb Bush, and a number of other well known personalities.

While the book is entertaining and easy to read, it is worth reading slowly and thinking how to put the ideas into practice in your own life.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneezeÃÂ®.com http://BookSneezeÃÂ®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.